PANAMA—-January 8, 2023— Panama Ship Registry has maintained its leading position globally with 8,540 vessels and 251.1 million gross tonnage (GT), according to the international platform IHS Markit. While in the latest World Fleet Monitor of the year by Clarksons Research Platform, the panamanian flag is on 16% of the ships that make up the world fleet.

During the last year, the Registry had a net increase of 83 ships representing 7.2 million GT and maintained a retention rate of 29%, as reported by the Panama Maritime Authority database. Overall, this Administration has maintained an average retention rate 28 % which is an improvement on the 10-year rolling average of 14 %.

With respect to the ships that entered the panamanian fleet in 2023, 56.7% of the ships are less than 15 years old and had an average 4 years age. From these, 339 are newbuildings, which add up to more than 8.3 million GRT, with which the General Directorate of Merchant Marine achieves 93.75% compliance with its objective of attracting vessels of this segment.

It is significant to mention that last year the Panama Ship Registry by responsible means cancelled officiously 161 vessels representing 1,287,604 GT and with an average age of around 17 years. Within this group are 78 vessels associated with unreported and unregulated fishing.

During this administration from July 2019 to date, the Panama Ship Registry has added 33 million GRT, according to Clarksons Research’s World Fleet Monitor report. Also, this report mentioned the flag´s growth at the end of 2023 is around the 2.9%.

The Panama Maritime Authority continues to be committed to the Panamanian Registry´s modernization and the industry decarbonization, which is why we are working to optimize the services we provide to shipowners worldwide through by our 53 Consular Offices and 22 international technical offices.